Our thanks goes to all the Staff in the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit at Ormskirk General Hospital . Without you care, advice and understanding we would not have tried again after the 3 miscarriages and there would have been a bigger void in our lives.

Our thanks goes to all the Staff in the Delivery Suite at Ormskirk General Hospital. Your skills as a surgery and delivery team are second to none taking into account the urgency of the birth. Even during this time we recall, the laughter we all had after he was born and we all new he was ok. We also remember the surgeon saying wow he's a small one. If only we knew then what we know now.

A very special thanks goes to all the Staff in the Neo Natal Unit (Special Care) at Ormskirk General Hospital. This place was our home for 3 months, you cared for the 3 of us daily, when we needed anything you were all always there for us. You will stay in our hearts and memories for ever. Without the skills of the Doctors, Consultants, Nurses and Support Staff, Alex would not have made it, especially on the occasions he decided to be naughty.

A very special thanks goes to Dr Al-Kharusi from Ormskirk General Hospital, we met her for the first time the day after Alex's birth, it was Dr Al-Kharusi who advised us that Alex had been born with several problems, we remember her first words after we got upset, they where "Don't worry here's one of mine, I'll look after him". There has been a couple of times Alex's has had to go back to Ormskirk, one being when he suffered his first collapsed lung, we remember you telling the staff to take care of him as he was one of yours, this made us feel secure. We would also like to thank you for arranging for us to see Dr Spinty, we cannot thank you enough.

A very special thanks goes to Debbie and Linda, our local health visitors, the first 6 months after Alex was discharge after his birth was horrendous, due to his ongoing vomiting, secretions and weight problems. You both guided Sue and myself when we were down, you were there when we needed someone to talk to. We know if we need you, we've only got to call you and you'll be their for Alex and us.

A very special thanks goes to Jan, our Childrens Community Nurse from Alder Hey Hospital. Your have been our shadow and mentor throughout Alex's life. You've educated us on how to deal with Alex's early illness, you've passed your skills and experience on to us so that we can treat Alex, ourselves.

A very sincere thank you goes to Dr Spinty from Alder Hey Hospital. When we first met in the joint clinic with Dr Al-Kharusi back in October 2005. We thought we were only going to talk about his secretions and his reflux. Well you gave Alex a full medical assessment that highlighted more than we wanted to know at the time and was not even aware of at the time, in fact you scared the hell out of us with your diagnosis.

All we can say is we are very happy we met you and feel very lucky that you have played a major part in Alex's life in more ways than one. From that day, you have orchestrated Alex's medical welfare, you have conducted test after test on Alex, you brought together other Doctor's to help him and eliminate some of the things we all thought may be wrong with him.

More so, when Alex was critical after his cardiac/respiratory arrest and he was suffering from seizures, you and your team were there for him hourly/daily and weekly and you brought him back to us. Your told us things that we did not want to hear, things we did not agree with (Fundoplication) at the time but you educated us enough to to realise what was best for Alex.

We also remember vividly when you took time out of your busy schedule to speak to our 8 year daughter Jessica who blamed herself for Alex being sick when he nearly died, she cried herself to sleep, she was having nightmares but after your chat with her, she realised she was not to blame.

Just after Alex was diagnosed as having Primordial Dwarfism, you started the process again and brought us into touch with other doctors who will now monitor him through the next stages of his life. All five of us will be forever in your debt.

Our very sincere and grateful thanks go to all the Doctor Consultants, Nurses and support Staff in the Children’s Ward and A & E at Ormskirk General Hospital. In January last year (2006), we took Alex to Ormskirk General because he had a cold and as a precaution due to the high risk of aspirating whilst ill.

Within a couple of days, he was diagnosed as having Bronchitis, and then before we knew it, his lung collapsed. His condition deteriorated rapidly over the next two days and he had to be intubated.

It was during this intubation, that Alex suffered his cardiac/respiratory arrest; I was holding his hand at the time but had to stand aside whilst the medical team went to work. For the best part of two hours, I lost hope as I watched my son fade away, but this collection of people fought and never gave up, the following hour my son still seriously ill was alive.

We as a family, will never forget you for what you all did that day!

The next thank you and it’s a thank you that will stay with us for ever and ever, it goes to over a hundred staff in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool who cared for Alex in the following areas:

      
Intensive Care Unit - Accident & Emergency Unit - High Dependency Unit - C3 Ward - C2 Ward - B3 Ward - D3 Ward - M3 Ward - Surgical Department - Neurology Department - Respiratory Department - Gastrology Department - Physiotherapy Department - X Ray/MRI Department - Dietician Department - Opthalmology Department - Dental Department - Anaesthetics Department - Ronald Macdonald House - Porters - Restaurant

You all took over from where the Ormskirk Staff left off. For over seven constant months we watched you care for Alex during difficult, emotional times and then towards the end of his stay, pleasant times.

We watched you battle against his stubbornness to respond on several occassions, at times we watched you share our grief and pain, then we watched as you all fell in love with him when he started to come back to us.

There were times like in Ormskirk, when we lost hope but many of you would say, he’s going nowhere, he’s a fighter, and this became apparent over time,  especially when it took four Doctor’s and Nurses to hold him down whilst trying to get him on CPAP during an emergency situation. I remember one of the doctors laughing in stunned amazement - saying where did a little one like that get that energy from, his lungs had gone again, his vital signs were low and he was needing a lot of oxygen, but he fought the four of them.

Many of these doctor’s and nurses are a part of our life now and will be for a very very long time. We see them every month or so during the many appointments Alex has and where glad he's in your hands!!.

Our very grateful thanks goes to all the Doctors, Nurses and Support Staff in Ormskirk A & E, the X-ray Department and the Fracture Clinic who treated Alex between Aug 2006 - October 2006 when he broke his femur. It was nice to visit you for a routine problem and something that was not going to keep him in. It also gave us the chance to say thanks to the staff who treated and saved him in January 2006. we didn't get to see everyone but I'm sure we will on our next visit?

A very grateful thank you goes to our local Speech, Physio, Occupational and Therapy Teams for all your ongoing support. Without your regular input, experience and advice, Alex would not have come this far since you've been involved with us.

We give Alex constant stimulation daily, but when we have exhausted our ideas, you open our eyes to new concepts and ideas which have allowed us to take Alex further in the next stages of his development.

We thank you so much for this.

A very big big warm thank you goes to "Claire House Children's Hospice" and all the wonderful staff who work there. Your involvement in Alex's life has been truly miraculous. After every stay with yoursleves, Alex comes out a different little boy to his and our benefit.

So we say thank you for this but we also want to say thank you for allowing Sue and I the time to recharge our batteries whislt he is with you and allow us to spend a little extra valuable quality time with Michael and Jessica.

Anybody interested in the work "Claire House Children's Hospice" does for children and thier families, please visit their website via our "Links" page.